{"id":16511,"date":"2014-12-12T07:34:18","date_gmt":"2014-12-12T11:34:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/?p=16511"},"modified":"2026-07-09T14:35:31","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T21:35:31","slug":"discernment-or-criticism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/discernment-or-criticism\/","title":{"rendered":"DISCERNMENT OR CRITICISM?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Roger Oakland<\/strong>
\n Understand the Times, International<\/strong><\/p>\n

Taking a stand from a biblical perspective with regard to purpose-driven-emerging Christianity is not very popular these days. Those working towards establishing the kingdom and \u201cgetting closer to Jesus\u201d through contemplative practices rooted in eastern mysticism are very outspoken. If you are not in favor of what they are promoting, you are labeled a hater and against everything.<\/p>\n

One pastor wrote me a letter and asked the following question: \u201cBefore you went public with your book Faith Undone<\/em> did you contact everyone you wrote about in the book personally and discuss the issues? If not, shame on you and don\u2019t write me back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, I was shamed into writing him back. I recognize that I should always be open for correction. But \u201cshame\u201d is a pretty harsh term coming from one of the \u201cbrethren.\u201d Incidentally, this man was insinuating that I was violating Matthew 18<\/a> by writing about public figures in my book. But Matthew 18 is not about challenging leaders who are deceiving millions of people.<\/p>\n

One pastor I tried to contact sent his bulldog after me who attacked me personally with slander. He didn\u2019t even address the facts. Should I be ashamed of myself for quoting someone who said what he said in a public forum? Does this really make me a \u201ccounter-cult-kook\u201d as he said? Click here<\/a> to continue reading.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Roger Oakland Understand the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":63,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[108,822,4],"tags":[6,42,61,365,507,1392],"class_list":["post-16511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-persecution-defending-the-faith","category-concerns-for-calvary-chapel","category-defending-the-faith","tag-roger-oakland","tag-persecution","tag-spiritual-deception","tag-faith-undone","tag-discernment","tag-matthew-18","wpcat-108-id","wpcat-822-id","wpcat-4-id"],"yoast_head":"\nDISCERNMENT OR CRITICISM? - From the Lighthouse<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/discernment-or-criticism\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"DISCERNMENT OR CRITICISM?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Roger Oakland Understand the...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/discernment-or-criticism\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"From the Lighthouse\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LighthouseTrailsResearch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-12-12T11:34:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-09T21:35:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Roger Oakland\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@LTrails\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@LTrails\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Roger Oakland\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/discernment-or-criticism\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/discernment-or-criticism\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Roger Oakland\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/30980de19ee37515b4a51f2c69630085\"},\"headline\":\"DISCERNMENT OR CRITICISM?\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-12-12T11:34:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-09T21:35:31+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/discernment-or-criticism\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":235,\"commentCount\":0,\"keywords\":[\"Roger Oakland\",\"persecution\",\"spiritual deception\",\"faith undone\",\"discernment\",\"matthew 18\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Persecution\",\"Concerns for Calvary Chapel\",\"DEFENDING THE FAITH\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/discernment-or-criticism\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/discernment-or-criticism\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/discernment-or-criticism\\\/\",\"name\":\"DISCERNMENT OR CRITICISM? 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